Dwyane Wade : Flash The East Coast Assassin pt.1

He hurled the ball high into the air, and it spun up and away and forgotten, the object that just moments before had been the most important thing in the building. Dwyane Wade began screaming. The clock ticked to zero, the horn sounded: But he knew already. He had known before anyone else in the arena that it was over, that his Miami Heat had come back yet again and won the 2006 NBA championship, that on this June night in Dallas he had, at 24, risen above his preordained peers to clutch the only prize that matters. The rest, though? He knew almost none of that.

Above Wade, above the American Airlines Center floor where the Mavericks and their shocked fans were edging toward the doors, the ball reached its peak, hovered an instant, started its fall. Already, the hierarchy of the basketball universe had been reshuffled, Wade's place in the game elevated and informed by long ago names and games. Time and again during these playoffs he pulled off heroics that echoed one basketball legend after another. Make room at the table, John Havlicek and Larry Bird: Wade stole New Jersey's final inbounds pass with nine tenths of a second left in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals to send the Nets packing. Move over, Willis Reed: Wade did you one better, marching dramatically onto the court in the second half of a vital opening-round Game 5 against Chicago after suffering a hip contusion, then, four weeks later, checking out of a hospital after a night of vomiting caused by a sinus infection to carry the Heat in the series-sealing Game 6 of the conference finals against Detroit.

Yet, the most resounding echo of all, naturally, came at the end. It was Wade who led Miami, down 0-2 in the Finals and about to be buried, out of a 13-point hole with 6:15 to play in Game 3. It was Wade who wound up with 15 points in the fourth quarter, 42 overall, Wade who stole Dirk Nowitzki's inbounds pass with three tenths of a second left to put a boot to the Mavericks' throat. In the Heat sweep to follow, the Chicago-born, Jordan-worshipping Wade made it safe, for perhaps the first time since number 23 retired, to compare a guard with Michael and not risk embarrassment. At every pivotal point in Miami's oddly flawed playoff run, Wade had lifted his play to a personal high. But in those final four games -- with every Dallas player, coach and fan keying on him -- he punctuated a rise unlike any the league has seen, averaging 39.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.5 steals. No other player, in his first three NBA seasons, has scored more postseason points. No other player has come close.

"He just went off the charts," says former Heat coach Stan Van Gundy, now a consultant with the team. "Dwyane literally for six weeks played the game at a level that almost no one's ever played at. I don't know that Jordan ever played a better Finals. He's the best in the league right now, and the winning is what sets him apart from the other perimeter guys. LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Carmelo Anthony are great and may eventually lead teams to championships. But the difference between Dwyane and Kobe is that when the Lakers won [three championships], Kobe had a huge part of it -- but Shaq was the lead guy. Last season Dwyane was the lead guy. He led them to a championship."

But it's not Wade's way to admit such a thing or concern himself -- even as he and his teammates hugged and danced after the Game 6 clincher -- with what any of it meant. For so long basketball had been his way to escape a legacy, not build one. "Thirteen points down with six minutes to go? That's not life or death," Wade says. "I've been through more than anybody knows. To me this is joy. This is when I can let it all out. This is my time."

So, yes, even as the ball plunged to the arena floor, sportswriters hit the keyboards, message boards hummed, talking heads babbled: The atmosphere of Sportsland was suddenly charged with a sense of revival. Wade had done it all again on this night -- 36 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, four steals -- and would be named Finals MVP, but he'd also made winning a title as much about a franchise, a city, as himself. Who does that anymore? "I have my favorite players," says Denver Nuggets coach George Karl. "For a long time they were John Stockton, Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan. Now my favorite player to watch on film is Dwyane Wade. He plays the game the right way.... His spirit, his presence is fun to watch. He doesn't cheat the game with emotion or negative energy. He's always visibly focused, disciplined and team."

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• dwyane
• wade
• flash
• nba
• playoffs
• finals
• 2006
• mvp
• champion
• miami
• heat
• east
• west
• dallas
• mavericks
• michael
• jordan
• chicago
• bulls
• kobe
• bryant
• lebron
• james
• usa
• dream
• team
• magic
• johnson
• penny
• hardaway

[k1kaps]

this song and mix pumps me up before games and training :) awesome !

[falkner23]

thanks bruh im glad u like it man, im with u on that it gets me pumped up 2 go play ball & destroy cats on tha court

[Beastley3]

Sick video man. D-Wade is the best!! Can't wait for the season to start. Btw what is this song called?

[falkner23]

notorious b.i.g - victory 2004 remix feat 50 cent p diddy & busta rhymes, the orginal is notorious b.i.g. - victory

[thedawg385]

Another bandwagonning unaware, dumb ass shithead. Wade doesn't fucking hog the ball, he gives up last shot when he knows there's an open person, under pressure and he's proven it many times. lebron on the other hand wants to take the last shot everytime, there's a clip of him floating around vs the heat, he was double teamed, teammates open all over the court but he tried to take the last shot and bricked it. Kobe shot 3 airballs in his first playoff game. Dumb fuck.

[thedawg385]

No he's not, you don't have your facts straight asshole, until you do, come back and talk to me and prove how kobe's better. Wade took over with 6 minutes to go down 13 in the fourth in game 3. Did hobe do that in game 6? Nah he a choke artist. And you a fucking dipshit. kobe is a fucking snail compared to wade. You obviously haven't even been watching the usa games to see wade at 101%.

[Zeke4TV]

East Coast is were the best players are.D-Wade low key the best player in the NBA

West Coast Soft

[pfkshampion]

Partizan fans in a basket game AMAZING

watch?v=MxAPggIvK2I&feature=re­lated

NBA fans are stupid for Partizan Grobari

[gioislakers]

u are wrong

[03liveeasy30]

look dude, i know what im talkin bout, and ur name really has nothing to do with it, idk why ur makin a big deal about it, the piont was that just beacuse ur you dont mean ur right, and i really dont give three bout if you think im wrong, it was a comment,you like the mavs,i dont,its not like im hatin on them,so its not that serious anymore,it was three yeasr ago and what happened happened,so whatever,sorry for your team but you beleive other than me,thats how it is.

[bigsteve0999]

wtf ? i still dont know what ur talkin

and what does my name have to do with anything ?

its not some playoff games

they were in the fuckin finals meaning they won 12 playoff games

and im not tryna look like i am a super mavs fan

i jus feel really bad for em

theyre title was taken away from em

i doubt u even saw the 06 finals

go watch it

[03liveeasy30]

of corse your gonna say that beacuse you like the mavs, and who are you to tell me i dont know anything? steve? just beacuse your steve doesnt mean your automatically right,and im not tryna set you off on "wtf are you talkin bout",i wasnt ranting about them winning or the mavs not,so idk why your gettin all hyped up about it,and im sure the mavs won a couple of games who helped them get to the playoffs that missed calls, just like any other team so its my opinion they won fair,not that serious

[bigsteve0999]

wtf are u talkin about? i jus understood the dvd prt and no im

not a huge mavs fan,i jus like em, and btw the dvds are made by the nba, of course theyre not gonna show phantom calls and bs,theyre gonna make it look as real as possible, idiot i saw the dvd, it doesnt show the prt where dirk touches wade and gets called 4 a foul,stfu u dont know anything

[03liveeasy30]

well i can tell you wrong, i have the dvd, you cant tell me nothin, you are like a huge mavs fan arent you? but look, if they got to the championchip that year and lost by a few, thay can win by m,ore than a few a different year, depending on what team it is, to what happened happened, the heat happened to win and thats that, the mavs could win though, maybe even like next year, who know, just dont goin around mad over them winning, i still think the magin didnt get some calls they should have,

[bigsteve0999]

lolzzz "ppl as dump as you" ?! wtf ur a fuckin moron,im dump ? its dumb,learn how 2 spell buddy,and if ur gonna insult me say something worth saying, all u said was i surprises u i could write,wow good one,im hurt, i feel really dump lmaooooo

[david13wade3iverson3]

lmao people as dump as u surprise me so much that atleast they know how to write,,,dumb ass motherfucker.